×

Podcast: This week, I joined Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss my newest book, The Multi-Directional Leader: Responding Wisely to Challenges from Every Side. Collin is an excellent interviewer who always comes prepared with good (and a few surprising) questions. You can listen to our conversation or read the transcript.

For the past several years, a certain kind of conversation has been common for me with church leaders. Here’s a sample:

In the recent past, I was solely attentive to the slow but steady encroachment of restrictions from some elements of the ideological left. Now, I fear, we must guard against the possibility of tyranny emerging from segments of the political right. What saddens me the most is the degree to which numerous saints aid and abet such developments out of fear of the former.

When church leaders assume that they can only scan for attacks in one direction, they leave Christians vulnerable to different dangers. What the church needs, then, is what Trevin Wax calls multi-directional leadership—leaders who demonstrate faithful versatility. 

Kindle Deal: The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radical Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World by Rosaria Butterfield. $4.99.

Seven of the best articles I came across this week:

1. Taylor Combs – The New Version of Works Righteousness. In our current passion to pursue justice, I’m afraid many Christians are at risk of imbibing a means of pursuing justice that is patterned not after the Word, but after the world. I’m afraid we’re on the verge of abandoning Scripture’s definition of justice and of adopting a new version of works righteousness in its place.

2. Ed Stetzer – No, Oral Roberts University Doesn’t Deserve to be Canceled from NCAA Sweet 16. Stetzer points out the stunning 180 from the arguments we heard in 2009 when LGBTQ+ advocates maintained, “All we want is the right to marry. How will my gay marriage hurt you?” Now it’s: “We want your college accreditation, your athletic participation and more.”

3. Jennifer Gonnerman – Behind the Scenes at a Five-Star Hotel. For years, employees of the Pierre enjoyed some of the most enviable union jobs in New York City. How much of that will survive the pandemic? 

4. Peter Leithart – Sing the “Mean” Psalms. Excising imprecations would leave the Psalter as tattered as Jefferson’s edition of the Gospels. Imprecations aren’t a barbaric residue, but express fundamental biblical convictions about God and the world. 

5. Marvin Olasky – While I Was Still a Marxist, Christ Rescued Me. “It seems mystical, and I can’t even describe well the experience, but it reversed the course of my life.”

6. Sarah Pulliam Bailey – Church Membership in the U.S. Has Fallen Below the Majority. The proportion of Americans who consider themselves members of a church, synagogue or mosque has dropped below 50 percent, according to a poll from Gallup released Monday. It is the first time that has happened since Gallup first asked the question in 1937, when church membership was 73 percent.

7. Jason Thacker – Why Reading Books You Disagree With Helps You Grow. Picking up a book that you know you will disagree with can help you understand another’s perspective and clarify why you hold to another position.

If you would like my future articles sent to your email, please enter your address.

LOAD MORE
Loading